Tasting the Earth
by RareSnover
Summary: Lyra and Alina both leave home on the same day, one vowing not to return until her dream is accomplished, and the other hoping to steal away for a weekend at a pokémon breeder's convention. An unlikely circumstance brings them together, and ultimately forges their friendship. This is the story of two girls' adventures across the Johto region as they both accomplish their dreams.
1. Chapter 1: Lyra

When the darkness returned, there was nothing left to greet it. After all, everyone thought it was dead: killed by the hero of a nation, smothered to death by an unwelcome call. No one ever thought that it would return. No one even thought that it could.

But it wasn't dead, and it was very much back. And this time, it had a different goal. This time, it would take the region, and there would be no one poised to stop it.  
"Archer, honestly. I was on vacation. We've already done this neo-Team Rocket thing, and Giovanni didn't come back. What's the point of trying again?" Ariana stalked into the room, flanked by two guards. She cross her arms and looked at her superior with an eyebrow raised.

Archer smiled and turned, dropping a single pokéball onto his desk.

"My dear Ariana. Please reconsider your words. I am not seeking to call Giovanni back. No, his leadership failed, and he turned out to be a traitor to his cause by not responding to our call. This time, I will lead Team Rocket, and we will succeed under my leadership. It is time to revitalize the name that used to strike fear into the hearts of anyone who heard it!" Archer's face broke into a maniacal smile. "But I cannot do this alone. I need executives. I have called Petrol and Proton as well. We will rise up and become the face of Kanto!"

Ariana sneered at him. "Last time you were our senior, you failed us just as Giovanni failed. I don't see why we should trust you again."

Archer pursed his lips. He had known that Ariana would be hard to persuade, but he had pushed it to the back of his mind and ignored it, hoping that she would be easy to sway. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and Archer would have to resort to force to get her to join his cause. "My poor Ariana, why do you doubt me?" Behind his back, he released the pokéball that he had deposited on the desk a moment ago. Silently, his hypno burst into appearance and immediately started waving his hypnotist's pendulum in front of Ariana. "Follow me unwaveringly, and you will be able to take a never ending vacation. Help Team Rocket once more, and I will ensure that all of your dreams are accomplished."

Ariana's blank face stared past him. "I will...follow Team Rocket," she said after a minute of staring at the pendulum.

Archer smiled, and waved his hand at the guards at the door. They walked forward and half-led, half-carried Ariana out of the door, Hypno following behind them with his swinging pendulum.

Archer smiled once more. Now it was time to take Team Rocket to a whole new level.

* * *

It was the smell of bacon and eggs cooking that woke Lyra. She turned over, moaning softly at the bright sunlight that filtered through her blinds. She had told her parents that they needed to fix the shades, since she often woke up at sunrise when the sudden burst of light came crashing through the window.

But it was no matter. She was leaving today and there wasn't going to be another night in her life that she slept in this house and called it home.

Lyra threw the covers off and got dressed. She pulled on her long socks and situated her hat on her head, making sure that the red ribbon was tied around it neatly. She opened the door and ran down the stairs, stumbling a bit on the last step in her excitement. The girl walked quickly through the hallway and burst into the kitchen.  
Her mother smiled at her as she flipped the eggs. "Morning Lyra! There's a plate on the table set out for you. The bacon is already out, and the eggs are almost done."  
Lyra smiled and rubbed her bleary eyes, going to the table and plopping down in a seat. She was most definitely NOT a morning person.

As she dug into the bacon and eggs, she thought about which starter she was going to pick. Of course, she already had two pokémon; most everyone did, even before they officially started their journey. In Lyra's case, she had a whimsicott and a litwick. Lyra's favorite region was Unova. She loved the idea of a whole region that was run by technology. She heard that in Unova, they have such advanced technology that you could do almost anything you wish. That was why she asked for a litwick for her birthday. She had befriended the cottonee that she eventually evolved into a whimsicott on a family vacation. She had begged and begged her parents to go to Undella Town in Unova for their summer vacation. Eventually, they agreed. And the vacation itself was very nice. But the real reason that Lyra wanted to go to Unova was to catch a Unova pokémon.

After she had finished with her food, she picked up her pre-packed bag and slung it over her shoulders.

The excited girl turned to say goodbye to her mom, and found her crying at the sink.

"Mom, what's the matter?" she asked worriedly.

Her mother just shook her head. "It's just that you're an only child and...oh Lyra, I'm going to miss you!"

Lyra sighed. "Mom, it's not like I'm never coming back. As soon as I find Fly, I'll visit every other time I get a badge. Don't worry, mom, really, it'll be okay."

Her mom pulled Lyra into a hug. "Oh, I know honey, I know. I'm just happy seeing that you're all grown up now, that's all. I'm sorry, I know you don't like it when I cry."

It was true. Lyra didn't really like it when her parents cried; it embarrassed her. Weren't the parent figures supposed to be the strong ones, not the other way around? It was normally Lyra who was the shoulder to cry on, and not the other way around. That didn't bother her. She was used to it, and besides, they were there for her when she needed them, so why couldn't it go the other way?

As she pulled away from her mom, she re-situated her bag on her shoulder and smiled nervously at her mother. "Well, I guess I'm off," Lyra announced.

Her mother nodded, and opened the door for her, obviously holding back tears. "Bye Lyra! I'll miss you! Have a wonderful journey!" she called after her daughter. As the sun rose over New Bark Town, Lyra set off toward the Pokémon Lab, unsure of what was to come. Winds of change were blowing, but the roots she had planted at home would never be swayed.

* * *

"Litwick! Lit, lit!"

Lyra smiled as her litwick bounced along the path in midair. She had taken it to the Pokémon Lab that was run by Professor Elm and had it tested. It was a Jolly nature and Lyra could definitely see it in her.

"Hey Litwick, wait up!" she called out after her little candle pokémon who was bounding along ahead, oblivious to the fact that she was leaving Lyra in the dust.  
"Litwick?" She turned around and smiled as she saw Lyra running up to her. "Litwick!"

Lyra laughed and took the ghost candle in her arms. "You gotta wait up for me, okay little girl?"

"Litwick," Litwick's smile faded as she realized that she wasn't able bounce along carefree anymore, but her sadness quickly faded as she saw a familiar bunch of cotton float down from among the trees.

"Hey Whimsicott!" Lyra called out. She never had actually caught Whimsicott. He didn't really like going into a pokéball, and he followed Lyra's every command, so they was good enough for her. Her parents kept saying that she should formally catch it so that she could have it anywhere she needed, but they didn't understand that Whimsicott followed her everywhere she went. He normally slept in the treetops, since that was his natural habitat, but whenever Lyra went outside and called his name, he came floating down to her.

When Lyra reached the Pokémon Lab, she realized that a small boy was standing on the deck above the lab. He was under supervision of an older woman with brown hair that was pulled back into a bun. She was sipping a cup of something steaming and her eyes were visibly bleary. When she saw Lyra, she smiled and waved.

"Hello Lyra! How are you? Are you here to get your starter?" This woman was Professor Elm's wife, and she was much loved throughout New Bark Town.

Lyra smiled and waved back, releasing Litwick out to bob along happily again. Whimsicott floated up and landed next to the little boy, Elm's grandson.

When the child saw the big fluffy pokémon, he shrieked with amusement and gave him a huge hug.

"Whimsicott!" Whimsicott cried, his eyes lighting up with happiness.

Lyra smiled at the joy her pokémon was giving to the young child. "Hey Whimsicott! We have to go inside now!" she called out, hating to spoil the little kid's fun.

The fluff ball smiled and floated down to rest on Lyra's head. She had had him tested too, and even though he was Bashful and not Jolly, the pokémon was clearly always very jovial.

She pulled open the clean orange-and-blue doors and walked inside the messy lab.

Most of the mess came from open books and scattered papers, as well as multiple tablets that were hooked up to specific pokémon and displayed information on said pokémon on the glowing screens.

Professor Elm was busy at the back of the small, open, one-roomed lab doing some sort of chemical testing with graduated cylinders.

One of his assistants was typing rapidly away at a computer screen, while the other was scribbling notes in a notebook.

Lyra stepped around a peninsula and started toward the back of the laboratory. There were various small machines resting on the floor. Some of them had been pushed under tables or in cabinets, but there were others that were forced to be in the way, simply because there wasn't room for their storage.

When Lyra reached the back of the laboratory, right behind Professor Elm, she cleared her throat and picked up Litwick from where she had been floating beside her, popping the candle on her head.

The pokémon professor turned around at the noise.

"Oh! Lyra! Oh, that's right, Lyra was coming today. Stupid, stupid, stupid, you don't even have the pokéballs ready. Oh, Elm, you really are getting too old for this, aren't you?" the professor muttered to himself as he walked over to the peninsula Lyra had walked around. He typed something on a tablet screen implanted on the wall near the peninsula, and picked up the pile of papers and books in one fell swoop, placing them all on an already disheveled looking desk that looked like it was from fifty years ago.  
The section of wall that the peninsula was attached to popped open, and a tray slid out on a track. On the tray were three pokéballs.

"I'm sure you know how this works. Here, I'll release them for you," Elm said, pressing the center button on each ball.

Three flashes of white light later, three pokémon sat in a doggy pile on the tray.

Lyra inspected them. The one on the bottom was a cyndaquil, the one in the middle a chikorita, and the one on top being a totadile.

The cyndaquil squeaked in surprise and the fire glans on its back burst into flame for a second. The chikorita in the middle squealed in hurt as the fire licked its body. It reared up, throwing the totadile on top off of the peninsula.

"Oh dear, you've done it again Cyndaquil. Come now, you must control your flame!" Professor Elm scolded as he picked the totadile off of the floor.  
Cyndaquil squeaked in shame and hung it's head.

Lyra immediately knew she wanted it. It was so energetic and happy, but so shy at the same time. Originally, Lyra though she was going to pick Chikorita, but she just couldn't help fawning over the cute and energetic cyndaquil.

"I want Cyndaquil," she announced to Professor Elm.

He almost fell over. "What?!" He exclaimed. "That's my most clumsy and dunce-headed pokémon I've ever met! Why would you possibly want Cyndaquil?!"

Lyra smiled and picked up the cute little fire mouse. "Oh, stop it Professor Elm, you're hurting his feelings. You're just the cutest little thing, aren't you?! Oh, I can't wait to go on a journey with you!"

Apparently, Cyndaquil couldn't wait either, and his back burst into flame as he excitedly squealed for joy. Totadile, who had walked onto a case near the peninsula, was right behind Cyndaquil when his back burst into flame.

Totadile screamed and slipped on the glass case. He tripped backwards and his spikes wedged into the glass, shattering it.

"Oh now look what you've done Totadile, and all because of Cyndaquil's flame, too!" Professor Elm walked over to the case, a display of all of the different kinds of  
evolutionary stones, and plopped Totadile back onto the peninsula. Litwick floated down and landed on the display, giggling jovially at the scene that was unfolding.  
Cyndaquil looked like it might burst into tears, and buried it's head into Lyra's shoulder.

"Oh, baby don't cry! It's not your fault! Oh, honey it's okay!" Lyra comforted her new pokémon as Professor Elm shooed Litwick off of the display.  
"Lyra, I think you'd better leave before anything else happens. You know everything about starting your journey already, so I'll just give you your pokédex and your pokéballs and you can be on your way."

The Professor walked back to his desk and opened the drawer. Inside, he pulled out a new pokédex and five pokéballs.

"Here you are Lyra. I hope you have a wonderful journey, and be sure to check in with me every once and a while. Good luck!"

And with that, he politely steered Lyra out of his Pokémon Lab, and shut the door behind her.

Lyra sniffed and looked up at the cloud-streaked sky. The cirrus were dominating today, and the sun filtered through the white wisps. Lyra smiled down at Cyndaquil, and then reached up to pet Whimsicott.

"Are you guys ready to go on an adventure? We have a new addition to our team. Meet Cyndaquil. Say hello guys!"

Whimsicott drifted down and came to rest on Cyndaquil's head. Litwick bounced down to rest right in front of Cyndaquil.

Cyndaquil sneezed onto the flame that was on Litwick's head. He immediately hung his head in shame.

"Hey! It's okay little guy! You didn't do anything wrong! Here, let's check you out." Lyra pulled the pokédex that Professor Elm gave her out of her pocket and scanned Cyndaquil with it.

**Cyndaquil, the fire mouse pokémon**  
**Nature: Timid**  
**Characteristic: Often lost in thought**

Lyra smiled. Of course it was a Timid cyndaquil. Already it was shying away from the pokédex, unsure of what it was.

Lyra smiled and pocketed the device. Putting Cyndaquil down on dirt path, Lyra wiped her brow and looked around the spread out, rural village. New Bark Town was primarily a wind farm, and produced half of the energy used in the Johto region. It truly was a spectacle to behold. There was only a few houses, no Pokémon Center and no Pokémart.

That was fine by Lyra, and it was fine by everyone else in the town. New Bark was well known across the region, albeit known from a distance. Everyone had heard of New Bark, but not many people lived there. People occasionally took vacations to the tiny town, normally as a honeymoon or a getaway from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Lyra liked to walk the forest paths or run along the fields where the wind mills sat. Sometimes, she would even go along the lake shore, gazing at the tiny landmass in the distance, hoping, praying that one day she would be able to go there, to leave New Bark and go on a journey of her own.

Now that dream was finally coming true.

She started down the path that led to Cherrygrove City. She couldn't wait to start challenging the gyms and maybe even try her hand at a contest or two.

As she walked between the trees, sunlight dappling the bright earth before her, she noticed a shadow in between the trees. It was staring straight at her.

"Hello?" she asked, peering closer at the shadow.

The person, whoever they were, turned, and walked away through the tree trunks, towards New Bark.

Lyra stared after him, wondering who exactly it was.

It wasn't of much concern, however, and it quickly slipped her mind as she continued on her way, breathing the beautifully sweet air, and tasting the sweet aroma of the forest on her lips.

Lyra opened her eyes and sighed in content. She was on a journey. She was free.

* * *

**Wow. Okay. That was really fun to write and revise. Thank you for reading this and giving it a try. Johto is my absolute _favorite _region ever, so I'm really excited to finally publish the story that I have been planning, writing, and revising for _weeks_. If you haven't read any of my stories before, hello, I'm Cole Escapade! I downloaded a new writing app, so I've been writing a lot on there, and then transferring it to the computer. It makes my life a whole lot easier, and it means that you guys will get more frequent updates! **

**For those of you reading The Snowpoint Deduction: that is going to take backseat to this. I will still update it occasionally, even though I know I said I would revise it. I thought about it, and I would actually like to finish the story before I revise it. **

**But Tasting the Earth will be very different from any other project I've attempted. For one, it will have two perspectives. Second, the chapters will all be around three thousand words, much longer than The Snowpoint Deduction. **

**So please enjoy and review, as well as spread the word. Sorry for the long author's note, and I hope you have a wonderful day!**

**-Cole Escapade**


	2. Chapter 2: Alina

"And make sure that you pack your toiletry kit! You'll want your toothbrush!"

Alina sighed and plopped down onto her bed. "Okay dad!" she called through her open door, and then stood back up to admire the poster on her wall that displayed the pokémon breeding convention that was being held tomorrow in Cherrygrove City. She gazed at it longingly, placing a finger underneath the date. "I'm coming for you," she whispered, and then quickly turned back to her packing, checking to make sure that her father hadn't heard or seen her.

Once Alina had packed for the weekend trip, she started down the stairs, shouldering a small, cylindrical white bag.

Her father was waiting for her in the small kitchen, a little gift bag in his hands.

"Alina! Oh, my little girlie! I am so mortified at the thought of sending you away!" he trilled, embracing her in a warm hug. "Oh how I despise the notion that you might get killed by some random passerby, or worse, robbed of all your possessions! But, I must quench my ferocious longings for your safety. You are a big girl now at thirteen, and I am just appalled that you have grown up so quickly! Oh, come and give your daddy a kiss."

Alina stepped forward and gave her father a swift peck on the cheek. "Okay dad, I'm off. I'll be back on Monday afternoon. I love you!"  
The man sat down and pushed the bag he had in his hands across the table. "Oh, wait a minute. I forgot to give this to you. It's a little gift I got to surprise you. You are all grown up now, aren't you? Oh, but please don't open it until you're at your cousin Lydia's house," he said quickly as Alina started to take out the tissue paper. "It's a surprise! I love you darling, call me when you get there!"Alina nodded, taking the bag from the table and opening the door. "Bye dad!"

She took her first step out of the house, and smiled when she heard door click behind her. Pokémon breeding convention, look out, because Alina was on her way.

* * *

"Hello! Welcome to the Pokémon Center! How may I help you this afternoon?"

Alina sighed and fanned her face, trying desperately to cool down after her trek to Cherrygrove City on foot. It had taken at least three hours, and she was exhausted. "Yeah, hi, I'm looking to check into a room. How much would that cost for three nights?"  
Nurse Joy typed some figures into her computer and then looked up at Alina. "That would be five thousand pokédollars for our cheapest room."

Alina nodded and handed the Nurse her father's trainer card. When Joy gave her a skeptical look, she smiled as sweetly as she could and said, "it's my father's. He's letting me borrow it while I'm on a retreat with my sister." Alina smiled through her teeth, hoping the lie would be sufficient enough to get her a room. She didn't have any pokémon, and therefore didn't own an official trainer's card that also acted as a credit card. She had had to swipe her dad's card off his bedside stand when he wasn't looking.

But Nurse Joy just smiled and scanned the card, handing it back to Alina. "The card now acts as your room key. Your room number is 107. We hope you excel!"  
Alina took the card back and took a deep breath. "Thank you." She turned and immediately stopped in her tracks. Two people dressed in official pokémon breeder's outfits were walking across the lobby towards the elevators, conversing casually.

Alina gazed after them, longing filling her body with excitement. She wanted to be like them, an officially recognized breeder with her own pokémon plantation. If only.  
Alina's father had become a drama queen, not to mention overly protective after her mother had died in a cargo accident on board the S.S. Olivine. Alina had been little, so she could hardly remember anything about her mother.

She walked into the elevator and took it to the first floor. Alina walked into her room and set her stuff down. Pokémon Centers all had nice lodging areas for trainers, and for low prices too. She was glad about that, especially since her father thought she was staying with her cousin Lydia.

Ever since Alina saw the ad for the pokémon breeders convention in the Blackthorn Gazette, she had been obsessed with going. She had bought a poster for it at a newspaper stand, and fell asleep every night with her head turned towards the poster, longing with all her being to be one of them. She wanted to be a pokémon breeder so bad, but her father was afraid of pokémon, since it was a machoke that had accidentally knocked the boxes of cargo onto her mother aboard the ship. He thought that they were all horrible creatures that deserved to die. In fact, his hatred for pokémon was so great that he had received a grant to work from home. He also had Alina do all of the shopping so that he wouldn't have to leave the house and create a possibility that he might run into a pokémon.

Honestly, Alina loved her father, but he was _such_ a drama queen, and an overreactor.

She had told her dad that she wanted to go stay with her cousin Lydia in Cherrygrove City. In reality, she was going to go to the convention and learn all she could about breeding. The best part was that her cousin Lydia had disowned the family a long time ago, and refused contact with anyone related to her. Alina's dad didn't know that though, so even if he tried to check in with her about how the so called "visit" was going, she wouldn't pick up the phone when she saw it was him.

Alina was still scared spitless that he would find out. Her gaze fell on her bag, where she could just see the tip of her father's gift bag poking out of the zipper. He had said to wait until she was at Lydia's house to open it, but she was never going to Lydia's so know was as good a time as ever.

But before she could even stand up from where she had been sitting on the bed, there was a knock at the door.

Alina jumped up and opened the door, thoughts of her father's gift bag completely out of her mind.

Standing in the doorway was Nurse Joy with another girl about Alina's age.

"Hello Alina! I am sorry to intrude, but our rooms are booked solid for all of the breeders coming for convention. This girl just started her adventure, and she's looking for a place to stay. Would you mind sharing a room with her until some of our rooms clear up?"

Alina looked the girl up and down, taking in her short black hair and her red backpack.

"Sure, as long as she's okay with me waking up early and going to bed late for the convention," Alina responded, stepping back from the doorway and letting the girl in.

After the newcomer had claimed the second bed, Alina started asking questions.

"So," she said, hugging a pillow, "what's your name?"

The short girl glanced at excited Alina and muttered, "Jenna," before continuing to type out something on her phone.

Alina smiled and laid back in the bed. "Awesome! So, you just started out on your journey, huh?"

Jenna's eyes flicked over to Alina. "Yeah." Now she had switched to playing some sort of game.

Alina shook her head. "Oh, no reason. What pokémon did you get as your starter?"

"A chikorita."

Alina sighed. "I don't have a pokémon. I wish I did, but my dad is pretty over-protective. I'm here for a breeders convention."  
Jenna raised her eyebrows. "You came to Cherrygrove on your own and you don't have a pokémon? Wow. You must be an idiot."  
"Actually, I used a ton of Max Repels," Alina said, letting the idiot comment slide and turning on the TV.

Jenna snorted and rolled over so she wasn't facing Alina.

She rolled her eyes and started scrolling through channels. The convention didn't actually start until Saturday morning, so Alina had time to waste until the next morning. She sighed, and settled down into the soft blankets. So far, everything was going according to plan.

* * *

The next morning, Alina got up bright and early, trying hard to be as quiet as she could so as to not wake Jenna, despite her clipped responses the night before.  
As she walked the streets of Cherrygrove, heading towards the large building in the heart of downtown that was the convention center, she realized that she should probably come up with a way to hide all of the souvenirs and pamphlets she got from the convention. Her father would be sure to question her about it if she came home with all of them.

The sunlight filtered through the cherry blossoms lining the street as Alina made her way down the avenue. She could spy the rotating blue sign that marked the Pokémart, and the tall glass building with a red top that was the pokémon center. She could also smell the salt in the air from the sea that bordered Cherrygrove's west side.

Alina walked up the clean stone steps that led to the convention center. Outside, people were streaming in and out, all wearing green and white aprons signifying that they were breeders.

She stepped inside, still looking back at the breeders, and gasped as she saw all of the booths and exhibits that had something to do with pokémon breeding. She stopped at one of the tables that was advertising a company that sold medicine for pokémon.

"Hello!" the woman who was running the booth said, smiling and launching into her spiel. "Carbon Inc. sells quality medicine for pokémon of every type and size. Our environmentally friendly ingredients are biodegradable and..."

Alina listened to the whole thing and took every brochure that the woman had to offer.

As the day progressed, Alina visited every booth she could find. When they announced that the exhibit hall was closing, Alina was just finishing up with the last booth.

As she exited onto the street with cherry trees, she gazed around at the beauty of this nature-oriented city. The sun was low in the sky and it was just starting to bath the buildings and streets around her in an orange glow.

"Hey! Alina!"

Alina turned and saw Jenna walking towards her.

"Hey! How did the convention go?" she asked, strolling up to Alina, her chikorita looking out from behind her leg.

Alina smiled and looked down at the bags and pamphlets she was carrying. "Well, the first day went really well. I learned so much about breeding, I can't _wait _to get my own pokémon and start breeding."

Jenna smiled. She certainly had seemed to have crawled out of her shell. "I'm glad to hear it!"

"What did you do today?" Alina asked, shifting the weight of her bags and brochures.

"Here, let me help you with that. You're going back to the Pokémon Center, aren't you?" Jenna took some of the bags from Alina.

"Umm, yeah, thanks." Alina was surprised to see Jenna so extroverted after her stony answers the night before.

"I was meeting up with some visionaries, and I also did some training. Did you know that there's this restaurant in town where you have to battle to get your food? That's your payment for the food, battling and winning. It's awesome! Although, I didn't get much food, but I'm fine with that. It was awesome, plus, Chikorita even got some new levels."

As they walked into the lobby of the Pokémon Center, Alina couldn't help but notice that there were an awful lot of people around who were looking cheery and talking to friends loudly. They all seemed to be glancing at Jenna, and the other people who were talking loudly and cheerfully. Jenna, however, just kept walking to the elevators without looking around.

The ride up in the elevator was silent, but not awkwardly so. Alina was tired from all of the exploring she had done at the convention, and Jenna was busy texting someone on her phone. They got off the elevator and started down hallway.

Alina gasped as she walked into the room. Jenna stopped short when she saw it too.

"Oh my gosh! What happened here?! We got robbed, didn't we?! And after I joined their cause! Oh my gosh, what the heck?!" Jenna started freaking out as she ran around the room, searching frantically for anything that was missing.

Alina stepped forward, immediately dropping her things on the bedside table. She has taken her bag with her to the convention, so whatever the robbers had been looking for, they hadn't found it. On Alina's side at least.

Jenna's things has been ripped apart, all of her belongings spilled onto the floor and sifted through. The lamp on the bedside table had been tipped over, and all of the covers on the bed were ripped and pulled back in a tangled mess of cotton.

"Did...did they take anything Jenna?" Alina asked, taking hesitant steps forward, still astonished that someone had robbed them.

Jenna whipped around and glared at Alina. "This is all your fault. I pledged my allegiance to them, but they still attacked me because of you! What do you have in your bag?!

What do they want so bad that they would rob a new initiate?!" Jenna screamed at Alina, and then came at her, hands outstretched and eyes locked on Alina's bag.

Alina stepped back and pulled her bag close to her chest. "What is wrong with you?!" she shouted.

Jenna whipped around and glared at Alina. "Get out! Now!" she screamed.

Alina jumped back and scrambled to pick up her bags from the convention. "I'm...I'm sorry! I don't know what I did, I just-"

"Out!" Jenna screamed.

Alina darted forward, and as soon as she passed through the threshold, the door slammed behind her.

In shock, she stood in the hallway of the Pokémon Center hotel and cried.

* * *

As the sun made its final descent over Cherrygrove, Alina sat on the front stoop of the Pokémon Center, her eyes wet. Jenna had not come out of the Pokémon Center yet, and people had been starting to give her strange looks. Alina sniffled and wiped her nose with a tissue.

"Umm, do you need help?"

A female voice sounded near Alina. She looked up slowly, trying to shield most of her face with her tissue in case someone recognized her from her hometown of Blackthorn City.

Standing in front of her was an obvious farm girl, with a tall white bonnet and overall shorts.

"What's the matter?" she asked, bending down next to Alina, and shooing away the happy litwick that was bouncing around like a malamar near her head.

Alina shook her head. "I'm sorry, I know I look like an absolute idiot sitting out here, but I just don't know what to do."

And then Alina found herself telling this stranger farm hick everything that had happened to her today.

"...and then she just kicked me out for no reason, and I've been sitting here like a fool the rest of the day, with everyone staring at me like I'm some sideshow freak, and I don't even have my own pokémon, and at this rate I'll never be a pokémon breeder!"

Alina stopped short when she realized what she had just said. She hiccupped. "I'm so sorry, I never should have just ranted to you like that. Please just ignore everything I just said. I'm sorry again, I'll just go."

And with that Alina stood up and started off down the street, the girl with the litwick staring after her wondering what exactly had just happened.

* * *

Alina trudged down the grassy path, dragging her feet behind her. She had decided to go home and tell her father what she had really been doing over the weekend. Sure, it was only Saturday night, but she was done.

"I never should have gone to this stupid breeding convention," she muttered, kicking up a dirt cloud with her white shoes.

"Alina!"

Alina her a distant voice call out her name. She turned around, looking for a person on the long deserted route between Blackthorn City and Cherrygrove, but she couldn't see anyone. She turned around and continued walking dejectedly.

"Alina!"

Alina jumped and let out a little shriek. The voice had come from right next to her. She blinked a few times and gave the person a full look. It was the little farm girl from before.

"Umm, hi," she said, a little apprehensive as to what she was doing here.

"Alina! Hi! I've been looking everywhere for you! I drilled Nurse Joy on everything she knew about you, and then I asked around the breeders convention. Eventually, I found out that you lived in Blackthorn, and after doing a thorough search of every place you could have stayed in Cherrygrove, I decided you must have gone back to Blackthorn, so I tracked you down here. Anyways, I've come to try to convince you not to give up!" the girl smiled at Alina, her face full of bumbling excitement.

Alina sighed, and turned back toward the path. "Thanks, but I'm going back to Blackthorn. And, that's a little creepy how you stalked me."

The girl just waved a hand in front of her face. "Oh, that's nothing I've done much worse before. But that's not the point! The point is that you love pokémon breeding, and you're giving it all up because of a little diva girl who freaked out over a little robbery and threw you on the streets and your overprotective father who thinks that pokémon are little monsters, please don't ask me how I know that, but you can't just stop doing what you love because someone tells you you're not good enough! The world doesn't dictate your life, and you need to stop taking it's crap, and rise above it with your chin up and your head held high. Your love of breeding shines from your core, and it's because of that passion that I know you will never stop loving it. That's why at some point you just have to stop listening to what people say and go with what your own gut tells you."

Alina stopped in the middle of the road. She sniffed and looked up at the farm girl. "But how will I ever become a breeder if my father–"

"Your father?! Girl, wake up! Your father is not the only person you'll ever meet who will tell you that you can't do something! That can't be the way that you view yourself! Eventually, one day, your father is not going to be there to tell you what you can or can't do, and I'm sorry to tell you this, but he's not always right. Whatever it is that happened to make him fear pokémon, he is not you and there is going to come a point where you have to say, 'you are not right, and I am going to make this decision for myself.'"

Alina bit her bottom lip and looked up at the whimsicott that had just landed on the girl's shoulders. After a moment, she said, "will you come with me to Blackthorn? I want to tell my father that I'm becoming a pokémon breeder whether he wants me to or not."

The girl's face broke out into a huge smile. "Of course! What do you say we camp here for now? It's already getting pretty late."

Alina took a deep breath and nodded. "Sure. And," she caught the girl as she turned to pull out her tent, "thank you. This means a lot to me. More than you know."

The girl smiled shrewdly. "You're welcome. Truly."

* * *

**Hello again! Thanks for reading this, and a big thank you to Alphinia for reviewing. Reviews are the main source of my motivation and they help a ton to know what I need to improve. This chapter was a little laggy, and I know that, but I tried to fix it up as best I could. It's mainly to introduce Alina, but the breeding convention comes in again later, and so does Jenna, so I felt like I had to still give it my best shot.**

**As you can see, I updated the cover art (originally from Bulbapedia.) I also used a couple of pokémon references when talking about animals from real life. I tried to use those instead of the actual animals because those don't exist in the pokémon world.**

**Also, if you couldn't tell, Alina is based off of the girl protagonist from Sinnoh.**

**Again, thanks for reading, and I hope to have the next chapter up in two or so days!**

**-Cole Escapade **


	3. Chapter 3: Lyra

The kricketots were chirping loudly outside as the two girls settled into their bedrolls. Alina was still very quiet, presumably lost in her own thoughts. Lyra was surprised that she had just listened to everything she had said, and then accepted her request to travel with her when she didn't even know Lyra very well.

Lyra reached up and clicked off the hanging lantern, turning over in her bed and sighing contentedly. Tomorrow, they were going to go back to Alina's house, and she was going to tell her father that she was going on a journey whether he wanted to or not. Lyra blinked in the darkness, hoping against hope that everything would work out fine.

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and sharp. The air around those parts was very crisp and clean. That was part of the reason that New Bark had so many windmills: the air was wonderful in Southeastern Johto.

Lyra and Alina packed up the tent quickly and started down the fork in the road that split to Blackthorn and New Bark.

Eventually, after a few hours of walking, Blackthorn City came into view.

Alina looked at me. "I don't even know your name," she said, realization dawning on her face.

Lyra laughed. "You're right. I forgot to tell you. I'm Lyra. Nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand for Alina to shake.

Alina shook it, and then looked up toward the sky, where Whimsicott was floating lazily beneath the clouds.

The city was full of life, the humid air from the lake that guarded the Dragon's Den filling the streets. All of the roofs of the city were black, but the windows of the shops and the beautifully paved cobblestone streets filled the city with life and freshness. Every few feet, tiny trees were planted, adding to the sense of life and verdancy that the city had.

Lyra took a deep whiff of the air. "Ahh," she sighed, slouching a bit in pleasure. "It smells so good here!"

Alina smiled and nodded. "All of the cafés and restaurants leave their doors open, so all of the smells go out into the streets. Like it?" she asked, laughing at the dreamy look on Lyra's face.

"I love it! It's so different from New Bark, or from Undella Town! Everything just seems so full of life here, and it's amazing!" Lyra spun around in a circle, trying to take in all of the sights at once.

Alina pursed her lips, suddenly becoming quiet and serious. "My house is right up here on Valcamar Street. We live in a second-story apartment. It's not much, but it's enough."

Lyra tried to contain her excitement at the city as Alina buzzed them into her apartment and started climbing the stairs to the door at the top.

She stopped right before they walked into her home. "Now I just want you to be prepared for my father. He's a really big diva, and he annoys a lot of people."

Lyra smiled and poked her friend. "I'm guessing that he annoys you too sometimes."

Alina gave a half-smile. "Well he is my dad. What am I supposed to say? Here we go, but just keep an open mind."

She opened the door and walked in, immediately taking off her shoes and hanging her bag on the hook that was right next to the door. Lyra did the same, and then followed her into the wall-to-wall carpeted room.

"Alina? Is that you?!" A very high pitched voice sounded from the other room. Lyra heard a dresser  
drawer close, and then a man appeared in the doorway that led into a room. Lyra smiled at him as he glared at her apprehensively.

"Well it looks like you've brought a friend. Why'd you come home early? Did the convention not treat you well enough?"

Lyra's eyes widened as Alina gave a little gasp.

Her father snorted and waved his hand in front of his face. "Honestly. You take me as a fool, Alina! I am wounded. Cousin Lydia lives in Kalos with her husband's family. I know she disowned the family because I was one of the ones who caused it. Back when Team Rocket was still around, Lydia thought that your uncle, aunt and I were involved with them due to...circumstantial evidence, shall we say. I pretended not to know because I wanted to see how badly you wanted to attend the convention. I may think pokémon are demons, but I know that that doesn't mean you have to. Did you look at your gift?"  
Lyra swallowed. She had definitely not expected this. From what Alina had told her, her father was a complete diva with a selfish and hermit-like mind that sheltered Alina needlessly. This was not the father that Lyra had been expecting.

"No. I…I completely forgot about it, actually," Alina said, eyes still wide in shock.

Her father sighed and pursed his lips. "Well, I'll let you open it on your own then. I don't want to be there when you do." He walked over to the kitchen table and picked up an envelope.

"Dad…?" Alina stepped forward, leaving her question hanging.

Lyra understood. It sounded like her father was sending her off.

"Here's a bus ticket to Cherrygrove. I don't want you to have to make the walk again, as I know it's really tiring. I just hope that you will think of your poor, lonely daddy once in a while. I will be fine here, I do have friends you know," he said, sitting down. It sounded to Lyra like he was trying to reassure himself.

Alina sat down next to him. "Dad, are you sending me on a journey? But what about your fear of pokémon, and your…well, your overprotective nature?"

He smiled wistfully, staring at the ground. "Yes…I am. I just want you to be happy. Please, do that for me, okay?" He chuckled to himself, like he was recalling a joke.

Alina stood up and hugged him, then turned to Lyra. "I think we should go now. He's withdrawing into his shell."

Lyra didn't ask what that meant, but she followed Alina out of the apartment and down onto the bustling, beautiful streets of Blackthorn. "What was that? It was like he went insane at the end."

Alina stopped walking and steadied herself against a tree. "The night my mom died, he went insane. He had been drinking earlier that day, and that pushed him over the edge. He tore apart our entire apartment in Canalave City. He…he threw a chair at me, and it knocked me out." Tears started to pour down Alina's face.

Lyra took her friend and led her to a bench. She would have said something, but somehow, saying 'I'm sorry' after that didn't seem appropriate. So she let Alina continue.

"The next morning, I woke up and he was passed out on the wreckage of our dining room table. I thought he was dead at first, but he woke up when I started crying. He had given me a concussion with the chair, and I was really out of it. He managed to call the ambulance, but passed out again right after that. They came and got him, and left me there, all alone. I didn't know what had happened, or what to do. He hadn't even told me that my mother had died.

"When he came home the day after, I had tried to fix the apartment back up as best I could, but I was really messed up from the concussion. He seemed really weird, but he told me to leave the apartment and to get in our car. He drove me to the airport and we took off in a plane. We landed a long time afterwards, and then we got in a new car and drove to this apartment. He told me it was our new home and that I should get used to it because we weren't moving again. Then he told me that my mom had died.

"I didn't cry, partially because of the fuzz of my concussion, and partially because my mother was never home enough for me to really get to know her. Once they treated me for my brain damage, I just got back into the swing of things, but I ended up doing almost all of the house work and the cooking. My father withdrew into a shell that he had never had before, and he became really protective of me, and such a diva. He was really tough and mean before, but it was like he had transformed into a new person. He also started hating pokémon, and wouldn't let me go to the pokémon school. Ever since then, I knew that I wanted to be a breeder, because I wanted to help pokémon, not fear them like my father did. I always told myself that I didn't care about what happened to my father because he didn't seem to care about me that night, but I think I always craved his approval inside. That's why I was so afraid of going to the convention, because I had never directly disobeyed him like that before." She broke down sobbing once more.

Lyra almost wanted to cry herself. It was such a sad story, and she was amazed that Alina was still so strong after all that had happened to her. "I know this may sound pathetic, but I think that the strongest people are so strong because they have overcome all of their challenges, and they are ready to face every new problem with the mindset that nothing can be worse than what they've already been through."

Alina took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I just told you that. I've never told anyone that before. You just…you make me feel at home, although I'm not sure if I would know what that means. Thank you Lyra. Do…do you mind if I travel with you?"

Lyra smiled. She had been hoping that Alina would ask that. "I would love you to. You wanna catch that bus? I'm going to Violet City next, and I think that you can still go to some of that convention."

Alina nodded. "Sure. Oh, but wait! I forgot to open the gift my dad gave me."

She pulled the gift out of her bag and took a little box out of it. She opened it, and gave a little gasp. Inside, a little pokéball rested in a carved out half-sphere.

Lyra laughed. "Of course! That's why he didn't want you to open it inside, he was afraid of it! Open it, it's probably some rare pokémon he got you to commemorate your start as a breeder!"

Alina enlarged the pokéball, and then tossed it into the air. It exploded in white light, and then a large pokémon burst forth.

"Bellossom!"

Alina gasped. "I've always wanted a bellossom," she whispered as she watched the flower pokémon stare up at her.

"Bellossom!" The little pokémon ran forward and gave Alina the biggest hug around her legs that it could muster.

Alina froze for a moment, and Lyra could tell that she was slightly apprehensive because she was raised on the notion that pokémon were evil. But after a moment, she reached down and picked her bellossom up.

"Hey you! You're just the cutest thing, aren't you?!"

"Bellossom, bell, bell!"

Lyra smiled as she watched the two form an immediate bond. She was excited to see how they would grow.

* * *

The bus shook as it flew over rocks and roots. The road to Cherrygrove City from Blackthorn was rough and unpaved, even though it was relatively well traveled. There had been a campaign a while back to try to raise funds and pave the road, but it hadn't passed because people liked the rough wilderness that the route brought.

Lyra smiled as she watched Bellossom and Alina play in the seat next to her. Alina had been overjoyed when she had seen that the gift was a bellossom. They were extremely rare, since Sun Stones were the rarest of the evolutionary stones.

"You know, it's funny that you were given a bellossom," Lyra mused.

Alina stopped tickling her flower pokémon and gave Lyra a quizzical look. "Why?"

"Because I have a whimsicott, which also evolves by a Sun Stone. But I too got him after he was evolved. I just think that's kind of neat." Lyra smiled when she saw the disappointed look on Bellossom's face as the pokémon realized that they weren't playing anymore.

Alina's face looked serious. "But that might mean something. When Jenna freaked out, she kept saying that the robbers wanted whatever was in my bag. I kind of blew that off, but now that I realize it, they probably wanted Bellossom. And then I bump into you with a whimsicott. They might be going after pokémon that have evolved from Sun Stones, although I don't know why."

Lyra pursed her lips. "That does make sense, but I haven't actually caught Whimsicott. He just follows me around everywhere and does everything I say. I've never officially caught him because he's really shy around pokéballs." Her eyes grew wide. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen him since this morning. That's odd. He normally follows me everywhere."

"It's probably nothing to worry about," Alina said, adjusting the white cap on her head.

Lyra nodded, but she was still extremely nervous. What if something had happened to him? She could never forgive herself, especially if some other trainer had caught him. After being advised over and over to catch him, she would feel horrible if he ended up with someone else.

The rest of the trip went very slowly for Lyra, especially since she couldn't stop thinking about Whimsicott. When they finally got to Cherrygrove City again, Lyra was the first person off the bus. Her first glance was up, but to her disappointment, Whimsicott was not floating around in the sky.

Alina jumped off the last step and landed next to Lyra, adjusting the strap on her bag. "He's not here? Don't worry Lyra, he probably just lost his way. He'll find us sooner or later."

Lyra nodded, trying to convince herself of that. But somehow, the whole situation just didn't feel right.

"Oopsies, sorry dearies. Pardon me." A shrill old woman's voice brushed past them as they both got knocked forward into the street gutter.

Lyra straightened up and looked back down the street at the woman, who was happily humming a little tune as she waddled down the sidewalk, carrying numerous shopping bags. Lyra was about to shout at her for pushing them, but then her eyes caught on something. A little piece of fuzz that was stuck to the woman's satin gloves. Whimsicott fuzz.

"_Come back here!" _she screamed, tearing after her.

The woman paused and looked back slightly through her glasses. Lyra could see her expression harden. The lady's hand darted into her bag and then threw something on the ground. A tinkle of shattering glass later, smoke started to fill the air.

"A smoke ball," Lyra coughed as she tried to breathe and see through the smoky air. A flash of white satin alerted her to the general direction the woman was going, and she raced forward, trying to get out of the smoke.

Down an alleyway, and out onto another street, the smell of pollen and flowers filling her nostrils as she tried to keep up with the tourist, who had abandoned all of her bags but one and was now flat out sprinting.

"Litwick, Flame Burst!" Lyra called, releasing the candle pokémon.

"LitWICK!" the pokémon yelled as she sent a jolt of fire at the woman.

The lady spun around and threw a pokéball down. "Honchkrow, Whirlwind!"

A sudden gale whipped up around Lyra and Litwick, diverting the flames around the woman and pushing Lyra back.

"N…o!" she grunted, pointing at the woman. "Litwick, Thief! Get Whimsicott back!"

The candle lunged forward and nudged a pokéball off of the woman's belt as she escaped. The ball rolled to the ground and stopped on a sidewalk crack, sunlight glinting off of its metal surface as the wind died down.

Lyra darted forward and picked it up. "Whimsicott?" she muttered. A moment later, she tossed the ball up in the air.

Sure enough, out came the bashful cotton ball. Lyra sighed in relief and hugged her newly pokéballed pokémon.

Alina came running up to Lyra. "Lyra! What happened? Is the woman gone?" she asked, her hands on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath.

Lyra nodded. "She is, but I don't know if she knows I stole Whimsicott from her at the last second. At any rate, she must have captured him and then tried to run off with him. Although why, I have no idea."

Alina frowned as she saw a plastic card pinned underneath a garbage can. She picked it up and showed it to Lyra.

_**TEAM ROCKET EXECUTIVE ARIANA**_  
_**SECURITY LEVEL: ALPHA PRIME**_

Alina frowned. "Team Rocket? I thought they disbanded years ago."

Lyra nodded. "They did. This must be old. At any rate, at least we have Whimsicott back. How about we catch the last bit of the convention and then take a room at the Pokémon Center?"

Alina shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

They set off down the streets of Cherrygrove, amity filling the air. It was all peaceful…for now.

* * *

**Hello again! Thank you for reading this, once again. Thank you to Alphinia and Green Rune for reviewing also. That is very much appreciated.**

**I am thinking that I will be doing two chapters a week. Right now, the best upload schedule for me is Thursdays and Fridays, although that will be very changeable. I was actually hoping to get this up yesterday, but I was not home at all yesterday. This chapter I think is a little better than the last, although I have already started writing next chapter and it is turning out very well if I do say so myself. **

**Alina's past was really hard for me to write because I hate doing bad things to characters, but that is my Achilles heel in writing, so I wanted to start getting over that. This story is a journey for me as a writer to get a lot better, and your reviews really help that (*cough cough* Alphinia *cough cough*.) **

**So once again, thanks for reading, and there will hopefully be another chapter on Sunday, if not Monday. Have a wonderful day!**

**-Cole Escapade**


	4. Chapter 4: Alina

The dawn came cheerfully, bringing rays of happy sunlight streaming into Alina and Lyra's room. Alina turned over sleepily, and then cracked her eyes to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table. She groaned. It was seven o'clock in the morning.

"Eww," she muttered, then stretched her arms and yawned.

Lyra stirred in the bed beside Alina.

"What time is it?" she asked without opening her eyes.

Alina rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Seven," she mumbled, the bright light from window blinding her early-morning eyes.

Lyra groaned and turned over. "Yuck."

Alina sniffed. "That's what I said."

They got ready sluggishly, each taking their time in the shower, and each dragging their feet as they got dressed and grabbed their clean clothes from the little compartment were they were sent after the chansey washed them.

When they finally checked out of the Pokémon Center, they were both feeling much peppier and definitely more awake.

Lyra had all of her pokémon out, with Cyndaquil resting on her shoulder, Litwick bouncing along in the air, and Whimsicott brushing the treetops above. Alina was carrying Bellossom, who was humming a little tune to herself. It was a good morning.

The events of the previous day were still fresh in Alina's mind, though, and every once and a while, she turned her eyes up to the sky to make sure that Whimsicott was still there. She saw Lyra do the same too.

The road to Violet City was a long one, full of trainers and pokémon as well as Dark Cave. Alina tried to contain her excitement at the fact that she was actually seeing the world. After years of barely being allowed to shop at the supermarket, she was actually going on a journey with her very own pokémon.

The first trainer they encountered was a little boy with a rattata. Alina wasn't huge into battling, so she let Lyra beat him. Litwick was more than match for the newbie.

The start of the route consisted of many more battles like the first. But once they started to get deeper into the wildlife and untamed wilderness, stronger and stronger trainers started to appear.

Finally, there was a Lass who challenged Alina. She had a hoothoot by her side, and a fiery expression in her eyes.

"I challenge you to a pokémon battle, according to the rules set out by the Pokémon League!" The girl pointed her finger at Alina, ignoring Lyra.

Alina smiled and raised her hands. "Oh, I'm not a trainer. I'm a breeder. If you want to battle, Lyra's pretty good." She pointed to Lyra, who plucked Cyndaquil up, placing him on her head and smiling.

The Lass barely glanced at Lyra before turning her gaze back on Alina. "I said, I challenge YOU. You have a pokémon, right?"

Alina nodded nervously.

The Lass smiled triumphantly. "So then, according to the rules set out by the Pokémon League, you MUST accept my challenge!"

Alina sighed and looked over at Lyra, who shrugged and gave a 'sorry, but you have to' look back.

Alina sighed and set Bellossom down on the ground. "Okay."

She supposed that it would be good practice, since she would have to know how battles worked in order to breed her pokémon right. She already knew all of Bellossom's attacks since she had spent her whole life memorizing pokémon facts, but she was worried that she wouldn't be able to put the theory into action.

The Lass fist pumped in triumph. "Finally! A real battle!" She narrowed her eyes and glared at Alina. "I can't wait to crush you like a bug pokémon."

Alina took a step back. "Umm, okay." She drew in a deep breath and stepped back forward. "One on one," she said.

The Lass flipped her hair cockily. "Whatever. I'll still beat you. Can your friend referee?"

"Yeah, I will," Lyra said, taking up her position in the middle of the battlefield. "Are both sides ready? Then let the battle begin!"

"Go, Scyther!" the Lass called out.

The green mantis appeared in a burst of white light, slashing its scythes intimidatingly.

_Rule one of being a pokémon breeder: your breeded pokémon must be able to win battles with a type disadvantage,_ Alina remembered, recalling the guidelines from a book she had read on Pokémon breeding. She flashed a reassuring smile at Bellossom and ordered her into battle. "Teeter Dance, into Sunny Day!" _Rule Two of being a pokémon breeder: breed your pokémon with beneficial auxiliary moves as well as powerful attacks to compliment the set-ups._

Bellossom launched into a confusing dance of spins and hops. Scyther watched the flower pokémon with a sort of fascination. Alina could see the confusion setting in.

As soon as Bellossom stopped dancing, she started a very different, strange sort of dance.

"What is she doing?" Lyra asked, staring at the little pokémon who seemed to be performing a strange tribal dance.

Alina shook her head. "I have no idea. Sunny Day, I guess?"

The Lass' eyes bulged. "THIS IS MY CHANCE TO SHINE LIKE THE BLAZING SUN." She sprayed a quick Full Heal on her pokémon, then pointed straight at Bellossom. "SCYTHER, SLASH!"

The mantis leapt forward, hissing menacingly.

Ignoring the Lass' odd cry, Alina called Bellossom in to action. "Bellossom! Lucky Chant!"

Fortunately, the tiny hula dancer stopped dancing strangely and started singing a melodic tune. The attack hit, but thanks to the Lucky Chant, the damage was minimal.

"Alina! The sun!" Lyra called out, gazing up at the sky in amazement.

Alina looked up, and to her utter astonishment, the gloomy, overcast clouds were breaking up and dissolving. The sun, which had not been visible at all before, now shone in the sky like a beacon.

Alina's mouth formed a perfect O. "How...?" Her question hung in midair.

Normally, Sunny Day created a large ball of light that hung over the battlefield and simulated bright sunlight, sort of like Rain Dance, which formed a stormy cloud above the field. But this…this was something that Alina had never seen before. A pokémon summoning the sun? Sure, there were myths of pokémon ending a drought or a snowstorm, but they had never been proven. A pokémon actually changing the weather in a split second was absolutely unheard of.

"I think I know why Jenna wanted my Bellossom, Lyra," Alina muttered, still gaping at the sky. The sun was shining and the pidgey's were chirping like nothing had happened.

Lyra nodded wordlessly. It made sense.

The Lass gaped. "How did you do that?!" she exclaimed. Then her face grew serious, and she shuffled up to Alina's side. "Teach me your ways."

Alina edged away from her. "Hey, I don't even know what just happened. Let's just get on with the battle."

The Lass straightened up and nodded. "Then you can teach me your ways after I defeat you!"

Lyra snickered on the sidelines. Alina kind of agreed. This girl was a little crazy.

"Bellossom, Solarbeam!" she ordered.

"Scyther! Use Bug Bite!"

Bellossom gathered a ball of pure white energy above her, then screamed as it shot towards Scyther in a powerful beam.

The scyther got hit full on by the beam. "Scyyyy!" it cried, but it got up quickly, not fazed much, and leaped forward to complete its attack.

Alina grit her teeth as she realized that Solarbeam wasn't very effective. She frantically tried to think of a move to counter Bug Bite, but the mantis pokémon was too fast. Bellossom cried out as the attack ripped into her frail body.

"Bellossom!" Alina yelled as the pokémon suddenly burst into dozens of red lights and flew back to its pokéball. She stood for a moment, not believing that the battle had ended in one move from the opponent. "But…" She didn't finish her sentence.

Lyra raised the hand that was closest to the Lass. "And the winner of this battle is the challenger." As soon as she said that, she ran over to Alina. "Hey girl. It's okay. We all lose sometimes."

"But I did everything the handbooks told me too. I even had a fully evolved pokémon with crazy Sunny Day powers. How did I lose?"

Lyra hugged her friend. "You can only prevent type advantages to an extent. Eventually, they win out. It can't be helped. But you fought really well! You would have beaten me."

Alina knew that wasn't true, but she appreciated Lyra's encouragement. _Stop being a baby Alina. Everyone loses sometimes and it was your very first battle. Don't go crying over everyone because you can't win all the time. _Alina shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It was best just to move on. That's what she had been doing her whole life: moving forward, and never looking back.

* * *

They stopped midday at Dark Cave, laying out a blanket and resting for a while just inside the cave's gaping mouth. Lyra let Litwick and Cyndaquil out of their pokéballs to play with Whimsicott and Bellossom as she and Alina ate.

Occasionally, they would hear the cries of a wild wobbuffet or dunsparce, prompting Cyndaquil to squeal and jump into Lyra's arms. After everyone had had their fair share of food, they packed up and started again down Route 31.

After a long time of walking without seeing anyone else, they happened upon a man lying in the middle of the road, dead asleep.

Alina looked at Lyra. "What should we do? He's blocking the whole road."

Lyra shrugged. They stood in silence for a moment, then Whimsicott came floating down from the treetops, and came to a light and silent rest on the man's pudgy belly.

"WAHHHH!"

The sleeping man suddenly woke up and screamed out, flying up from where he had been lying down and lashing out blindly. "GET AWAY! AHHH!"

Whimsicott gave a little yelp and floated back up to the sky, startled away.

Lyra and Alina, however, were thrown in two different directions by the man's wild punches. Lyra flew over and slammed into a tree, while Alina splashed into a pond that was bordering the path.

The man stopped for a moment when he heard the girl's yells.

"What?! Who?! Huh?! What happened?! Who are you?! Aghh!" he cried out, confusion and drowsiness very evident on his face.

Lyra sat up and groaned, rubbing her head. "Watch it!" she scolded the man. Then she realized that a pokémon was sitting on her lap, staring angrily up at her.

"Aipom!"

Alina pulled herself over the pond's edge "Seriously?! Now I'm all wet!" she yelled at the man.

"Poliwag!"

The two girls stared at the two angry pokémon that had appeared in Lyra's lap and on Alina's head. They both jumped off of the girls and landed in front of them, taking a battle stance.

Alina looked up at Lyra and realized that she was in the same position.

Lyra smiled and shrugged. "What do you do? We did disturb their home. Besides, I've always thought that an aipom would be fun to have." She called out Cyndaquil and began her fight.

"Ready for a fight?" Alina asked her pokémon, who had just crawled out of the pond after her. When the flower pokémon realized what was going on, she nodded fiercely and took up a position in front of her trainer.

"Use Giga Drain!" Alina called out.

Bellossom looked at her blankly.

"Oh," she said sheepishly, realizing that her pokémon wasn't strong enough yet to know that move. But then how did it know those sun-related moves? Alina shook the thought out of her mind. She had a battle to win. "Let's go for a simple Absorb then!"

Bellossom nodded and shot a small seed at the poliwag, which wrapped around it and sucked a bit of energy out before the pokémon shook the seed off.

"PoliWAG!" it called as it shot bubbles down onto Bellossom.

The pokémon wasn't fazed, and took the bubbles with a bored expression on its face. Alina smiled inwardly at the sassy nature of the pokémon. "Now Bellossom, use…" Alina trailed off as she suddenly realized the potential of the poliwag in front of her. It could evolve into a politoed, which was very rare, and also could be pretty powerful.

"Scratch that Bellossom!" she called out, opening her bag and frantically searching for a pokéball. "Aha," she muttered when she found one. "You're mine!" she yelled, and threw the red and white sphere at the poliwag.

One.

Two.

Three.

_Ding!_

Alina beamed when she saw she had caught the poliwag. Rushing forward to pick up the pokéball, she bumped into Lyra, who was doing the same.

The girls smiled when they saw each other. "Good job!" Lyra congratulated.

"You too!" Alina responded, tossing the ball into the air to let out her new pokémon. Lyra did the same.

"Poli, poliwag!" The little tadpole pokémon jumped up and down excitedly, its slimy tail flapping up and down.

Lyra giggled as Aipom high-fived her with his big hand. "This is awesome!" she said, looking over at Alina. "I'm actually really excited that I get to train an aipom!"

"Umm, guys?" The guy who had pushed them over waved to get their attention. "I'm really sorry I pushed you all over. I was just really surprised. But hey, it looks like you got cool pokémon, right?"

Lyra nodded and shook the guy's hand. "It's fine. Thanks to you, I now have a really cool pokémon, and so does Alina."

The guy smiled, but scratched his back sheepishly. "Thanks, but I still wouldn't feel right if I didn't give you something for hit you both. Here, take this. It's the TM for Rest, and it's one of those new models that you can use however many times you want and it won't break." He handed them a little round disc.

Alina smiled at him. "Thanks! I hope you have a great day, but next time, try not to fall asleep in the middle of the road."

He chuckled a little bit and nodded. "Will do. Bye you two!"

They waved as they set back off.

Alina felt a little shiver run through her. The effects of Bellossom's Sunny Day were still being felt, and the warm sunlight on her back felt really nice. There was a slight wind that rustled the leaves on the trees peacefully and gave a serene feeling to the picturesque route.

As they mounted the last hill of the path, Alina looked back down on the valley-like route and smiled as the setting sun basked her face in rays. It had taken them all day to walk the path connecting Cherrygrove City and Violet City, but they had done it, and they had captured some new pokémon. Alina felt that same good-feeling shiver run over her as the last of the sun's rays peeked over the horizon. She felt so free out on the open road, and she knew for a fact that this journey was the best thing to happen to her in a long time.

* * *

**Hey! Sorry for the shorter chapter, but I didn't want to try to force more things into it for the sake of making it longer. I prefer to have the most natural chapters possible. I actually didn't think I would be able to upload today, since I couldn't write yesterday due to a power outage, but I just got in the flow and it all worked out! Once again, thank you to Alphinia for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy!**

**(P.S. Oooh, mysterious Sun-related happenings going around, am I right?! :D)**

**-Cole Escapade**


	5. Chapter 5: Lyra

"Ahhh," Lyra sighed, breathing in the exotic flowery scents of Violet City. "Why is it that every city in Johto smells so good except for New Bark Town?"  
Alina laughed. "You've been missing out." She scratched Bellossom's ears and looked around the beautiful rustic city.

They had spent the night at the Pokémon Center, entering the city in the night without fully taking in the shades and mood of the city. At night, Violet City went to sleep, giving way to the fuchsia shadows of the night. But when Lyra had stepped out onto the street after a delicious breakfast, she was astonished to see the previously moody atmosphere transformed into a vibrant city full of life.

Lyra took another whiff of the rich air. Violet City smelled distinctly different than Blackthorn or Cherrygrove. The former smelled like freshly baked bread, the aroma of cafés filling the streets. The latter however, hosted the scent of cherry blossoms and sea spray. Violet City's smell was unique, although Lyra couldn't really identify what it was. Incense? Pollen? She wasn't sure, but it smelled heavenly.

The two girls were exploring Violet City for the day, Lyra hoping to pick up some tips for her challenge of the gym she was planning for the next day. Cyndaquil was resting comfortably on Lyra's head. Litwick was bouncing along jovially like it normally did.  
The source of the exotic smell was revealed when Lyra and Alina walked by a large, open-aired market canopied by an expanse of patchwork canvas and cloth. Merchants shouted their prices through the air, people perused the wares set out on display, and wild rattata scuttled along the ground, nibbling on odd scraps of food or other assorted items.  
"Oh Lyra, can we please please _please _go in?! It looks so cool!" Alina grabbed her friend's hand. "Come on, it'll be fun!"  
Lyra smiled. "Why not? Let's go!"  
Alina bounded into the market, closely examining each stall before moving on to the next one. Poliwag waddled after her, trying desperately to keep up, but tripping and falling flat on his face every once and a while.

Lyra watched the little tadpole run, admiring his perseverance. He wasn't very fast, but he never stopped running through the maze of feet and stalls.

Lyra looked around the tables, but nothing much caught her eye. Sure, there was some cool stuff for sale, but nothing that she particularly wanted.

But, as she looked around, she realized that most, if not all, of the merchants sold a few bottles of incense along with the rest of their wares, and a lot of them had an aromatherapy candle burning as an example.

"So that's why the city smells so good. It must be from all of the incense that Violet City produces!" Lyra commented, examining a candle that was burning in front of a display of rare berries and custom pokédolls.

Eventually, she met up with Alina, who had a slightly grumpy look on her face.

"What's up?" Lyra asked, raising her eyebrows at her friend.

"Every time I pick up something to buy, Bellossom has to approve it before it goes in the bag. But she's…picky to say the least. Here, watch." Alina leaned over and grabbed a potion from a stall.

Immediately, Bellossom took a big sniff, and then swatted the item back down onto the table. "Lossom, bell, bell!" she yelled, glaring up at her trainer.

"Someone's Sassy nature is showing today," Lyra commented, amusement clear on her face.

Alina didn't seem happy about the unsympathetic response, so she turned away and continued to explore the market on her own.

Lyra continued on her way too, stepping over Poliwag as he struggled to keep up with his trainer.

"Wag, poli, poli!" he cried in dismay as Alina disappeared from his view.

Lyra chuckled and picked up the cute little tadpole.

"Poliii!" it screamed in surprise.

"Hey, relax. It's just me little guy. Wanna walk around with me? I'll hold you," Lyra asked. Cyndaquil, who had been on Lyra's shoulder, moved up to her head to get a better view.

"Poli!" Poliwag exclaimed in happiness as Lyra fit him into the crook of her arm.

"Hey, where's Litwick?" she asked Whimsicott, who was floating along the canvas ceiling, happily observing things from above.

"Whim!" Whimsicott called out, pointing to a booth near where Lyra was standing.

She walked over and saw her little ghost pokémon posing as an aromatherapy candle. Lyra shook her head and left her pokémon there. The little ghost was having too much fun for Lyra to interrupt it.

Instead, she just continued looking around, astonished at the sheer amount of items for sale. Eventually, she got tired of Cyndaquil crawling over her head, and Whimsicott drawing strange looks from shoppers, so she pulled Cyndaquil back into his pokéball and shooed Whimsicott outside to float around aimlessly with the clouds.

"Time for you and I to get a little bonding done," she announced to her Aipom, who was surveying the market from a post. She pointed Poliwag in the direction of Alina and let it blunder off towards it's trainer.

Aipom turned out to be a very Relaxed Nature, which was a nice break from the other animated pokémon she owned.

Eventually, Lyra met back up with Alina, who had returned Bellossom and was giving Poliwag some attention now, and they explored the last part of the market together.

When they stopped at the last stall that marked the end of the market, the merchant gave Alina a smiled and launched into his spiel.

"Would the miss like a Wave Incense? To fill your heart with the passion of the sea, and give your life the certainty of the ebb and flow of the tide. Only nine thousand eight hundred pokédollars!"

Lyra looked at Alina. "Hey, that could help power up your poliwag's moves, couldn't it?"

Alina nodded. "Yeah, but it's pretty expensive, and besides, I'm more interested in seeing if any of the merchants here have a King's Rock for when I want to evolve Poliwhirl into Politoed. It's pretty rare, and normally you can only get them at the market in Slateport City in Hoenn, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was one here."

The merchant's eyes lit up. "A King's Rock? Oh, the miss is in luck. I happen to have one right here, brought in by a strange man a few months ago. I have kept it because I know it is rare, and I was hoping to sell it for a high price, but the miss might be able to convince me to exchange its ownership for a different currency." He gave Alina a seductive wink.

Lyra stepped in before Alina's clueless nature got her in an awkward situation.

"A pokémon battle?!" Lyra said quickly, stepping in front of Alina. "Sure! If I win, I get the King's Rock for my friend for free, and if you win, I'll pay full price for that Wave Incense."

The man's smile faltered, but he regained composure quickly. "You have yourself a deal! Here, come around back. There's a good battlefield there."

The merchant swept his wares into a bag, which he slung over his shoulder, then he slapped a piece of paper down on the counter that said:

_Out_

**Be Back Soon**

Lyra motioned for Alina to follow her, then walked after the man, who was bouncing along, humming a little song as his bag swayed back and forth on his shoulder.

When they got to the battlefield (a small area marked off by white lines near the pond in front of Sprout Tower,) the man plopped down his bag a gave a toothy smile at Alina and Lyra.

Alina stepped over to the referee's box near the pond, keeping a respectable distance from the edge of the pool.

"This battle between Lyra and..." She glanced over at the merchant.

"Matthias," the man called out, giving another playful wink at Alina, who once again didn't understand the deeper meaning.

"...and Matthias will now commence! It will be a three on three battle, with each side under an item lock. Held items are permitted. Are both sides ready?" Alina called out.

Lyra nodded, steeling herself for battle. She was determined to win this King's Rock for Alina.

Matthias flashed Lyra a sly smile and drew a pokéball from his bag, fingering it slowly.

Alina flipped her arms up in the air. "Then let the battle begin!"

"Go, Aipom!" Lyra called, tossing a pokéball into the air.

The merchant smiled. "Fine with me. Krokorok, come on out!" he yelled, enlarging the ball and rolling it on the ground.

Lyra smiled. This was going to be a fun battle.

"Alright Aipom, let's try a simple Pound!" Lyra called, pulling out her pokédex to check Aipom's moves.

"Krokorok, dodge, then use Bulldoze," the merchant said flippantly.

The large sand crocodile jumped out of the way, then roared and hit the ground hard.

The earth rumbled under Aipom's feet, knocking the Long Tail pokémon off balance.

Krokorok raced forward and leaped up, landing on Aipom's frail body with a crash.

"Aiii!" Aipom cried out.

Lyra glanced down at her pokédex and then looked up again. "Aipom, Wake-Up Slap!" she called, hoping to score a super-effective hit to make up for the critical hit Krokorok had scored.

Luckily, the attack hit.

"Kroook," Krokorok yelped as Aipom's large tail-hand slammed into him.

"Good recovery Aipom!" Lyra congratulated. "Now try Swift!"

Aipom smiled at the praise and jumped up, shooting glowing stars at Krokorok.

The krokorok easily dodged the attack and lunged forward using Bite without any instruction by the merchant, who was still smiling slyly.

Aipom cried out in pain as the sharp teeth dug into her.

"Wake-Up Slap again Aipom!" Lyra called out, desperately trying to win back the battle.

But the same move would not work again on the sand crocodile.

"Crush Claw," the merchant ordered casually, still being extremely mysterious about the whole battle.

Lyra gasped as Aipom was caught right in between Krokorok's claws. "How does it even know that?" she asked under her breath. That was a far too strong move for a Krokorok to know.

But Aipom still went down, dissolving into red lights and flying back to her pokéball.

"Aipom is unable to battle," Alina called out, then flashed a worried look at Lyra, who nodded grimly, and then gritted her teeth. This merchant was a lot harder than he looked on the outside.

Said merchant noticed her staring and adjusted his worn cap on his shaggy brown hair.

"What is it girly, giving up already?" he asked, hooking his hands inside the pockets of his worn out jeans.

Lyra shook her head and looked up at the sky. "Whimsicott, you're up!" she yelled, hoping that her cotton friend would hear her.

Luckily, he did, and he came floating down on the breeze, happily swaying along to a song in his head.

Lyra couldn't help but grin. Whimsicott had a double type advantage over Krokorok, plus he also knew Flying type moves if he needed it.

The merchant shrugged. "Whatever. I'll still beat the miss even with a type disadvantage. Krokorok, Stealth Rock, then Metal Claw!"

Lyra couldn't believe her eyes. Stealth Rocks, a very helpful auxiliary move that damaged the opponent every time they touched the pointy floating rocks, and then Metal Claw, a move that would be super-effective on Whimsicott as well as something that Krokorok should not be able to learn at the stage it was at.

"Whimsicott, Leaf Tornado to blow away the rocks, then Fairy Wind!" Lyra called at the last minute after she had had time to digest the impossibility of the situation.

The merchant's cool atmosphere faltered as he realized that Lyra had countered Stealth Rocks and was at the same time preventing Krokorok from attacking Whimsicott by conjuring lots of wind that pushed the pokémon back as well as hurt it.

"Great job Whimsicott! Now finish it off with a Razor Leaf!" Lyra commanded, finally feeling that the battle was going her way.

As soon as the sharp leaves hit the krokorok, the pokémon collapsed into shades of red light and disappeared from the battlefield.

Lyra cheered and fist-pumped the air. "Woo-hoo! Great job Whimsicott!"

Whimsicott blushed. "Whiim," he muttered bashfully, sinking to the ground in embarrassment.

Lyra giggled. "Come on, don't be embarrassed!"

Whimsicott floated up a little, looked at Lyra for a moment, then sneezed right in her face.

Lyra laughed. It wasn't really that gross since the sneeze was mostly pollen.

Whimsicott giggled mischievously and turned back towards the battlefield.

The merchant chuckled, and then bowed, his hands sweeping wide. "I applaud you. I did not think you would get past my first pokémon. Unfortunately, now that I know the extent of your ability, I will not hesitate to pull out all the stops. Togetic, let's show miss how we really fight battles in Violet City."

The frail-looking pokémon burst forth onto the field and flapped it's small wings, a mean expression on its face.

"Toogetiic," it crooned, glaring at Whimsicott.

Alina took a step back from her position on the side of the field. "That's the meanest looking Togetic I've ever seen. How on earth did you get it to evolve?" she asked the merchant.

He grinned. "Just because a pokémon is mean to other people and pokémon doesn't mean that it is unfriendly towards its own trainer. Don't judge a book by its cover. Retaliate!" The merchant suddenly barked out the order, and Togetic moved so fast that Lyra could barely see it.

"Whiiim!" Whimsicott cried out as it flew backwards and immediately flew back into its pokéball.

Lyra and Alina were both frozen in shock. Whimsicott was Lyra's most powerful pokémon. How powerful, exactly, WAS this merchant?

The man shook his head. "You underestimated me, _and _you let me distract you with conversation. You definitely know your stuff, but you need to work with your pokémon more to develop them. You should also learn some techniques and tricks to battling. With a little training, you could be one of the best that Johto has seen in a long time."

Lyra bit her lip. Who did this guy think he was? "This battle isn't over yet," she snapped, and drew her last pokéball. "Litwick, show this guy who's boss!"

"Litwick!" The candle appeared in the air with a determined expression on its face.

Lyra smiled when she saw it. "That's right little guy. Show 'em what you got with a Flame Burst!"

Desperate to shine, Litwick quickly fired off the attack.

"Togetic, dodge and use Air Slash into Return. Do not miss." The man raised his eyebrows at Alina. "Once you see how much Return does, I don't think you'll have many doubts that Togetic is friendly to me, despite its Nature."

Alina didn't answer, and Lyra hoped it was because she was still rooting for Lyra to win.

The Flame Burst exploded in midair, sending embers out in all directions. Togetic got grazed with them as he executed the attacks, a blade of air and then a full on charge.

"Litwick, Confuse Ray, _now_!" Lyra ordered frantically.

The ball of pulsing light reached Togetic as the Air Slash was being performed. It flew towards Litwick, scoring a critical hit.

"Come on, come on, come on," Lyra muttered, suppressing a smile under her breath. "Litwick, another Flame Burst after Return!"

Togetic paused for a moment, then charged forward with the attack...which passed right through Litwick without any damage being dealt.

"Whaaa...?" The man frowned as he saw his Togetic pass through Litwick easily. "What happened?"

Lyra grinned. "Looks like you need to focus a little less on bragging and a little more on type-matchups. Normal type moves don't affect Ghost pokémon. Maybe you should train a bit more," Lyra informed him as Litwick turned and hit Togetic with a critical hit Flame Burst.

The merchant growled. "You will definitely lose now. Togetic, Metronome!"

Lyra froze. She had been hoping that this wouldn't happen. As they all waited with baited breath to see what would happen, Lyra tried to quickly rack her brains for ideas.  
Aeroblast.

Lyra sighed as she watched the blue beam of energy connect and take out Litwick.

As she watched the red lights come back to her pokéball, she looked up and saw the man coming towards her.

He reached out his hand. "Good game," he acknowledged, adjusting the bandana that was tied beneath his hat. "That was a lot closer than I thought it was going to be."

Lyra quickly shook his hand. "Thanks. I guess I'll just follow you back to your stall so I can pay for the Wave Incense."

The man paused for a minute, then nodded and started off. Alina gave a sympathetic look Lyra's way, then headed off behind the merchant. Lyra sighed and started after them.

"Here, take the King's Rock too. You guys'll put it to much better use than I ever will be able to. Plus, that battle was the most fun I've ever had in a long time."

The merchant plopped the crudely carved crown in a plastic bag along with the Wave Incense.

Lyra was taken aback. She was sure that the merchant would be cocky and seductive after he won, but it was like he was becoming a different person now.

"Uhh, thank you," Lyra responded, taking the bag from the man.

"No problem. Hey, have you guys been to Sprout Tower? If you did, or if you know the Elder there, I'm his son. Just in case that influences how the little lady thinks of me."

He nudged Alina playfully.

Lyra pulled her out of reach of the man. "Hands off," she ordered. "Thank you for the King's Rock and for the Wave Incense, but now we really must be on our way."

The man stopped them. "Wait! Here, let me give you my name and Pokégear number, in case you ever need battling advice. You're a hot battler, and I mean in both ways."

Lyra shrugged the flirting off and took the business card he had handed her. "Thank you kindly. Now we really should be going. Good bye!" Lyra flashed a fake smile at him, then quickly steered Alina out of the market.

When they were back on the streets of Violet City, Alina took the business card from Lyra and looked at it.

"Hmm, he's kind of cute," she said off-handedly.

Lyra rolled her eyes and kept her friend walking down the street. "What do you say we check out Sprout Tower? As much as I hate to admit it, Matthias had a good idea. Sprout Tower is a good place to hone up some of your battling skills. Plus, it's the only place where you can legally get HM01. Cut can be really helpful, but if Devin was telling the truth, then either he's a lot better than his dad, or this fight will be quite a challenge." Lyra ranted to Alina as they turned a corner and found themselves where the battle took place. Lyra kept walking, ignoring the scene, but Alina paused to look at it. When Lyra realized this, she stopped and looked back at her friend.

"What is it?" she called back.

Alina looked up. "That was your first loss, wasn't it?"  
Lyra nodded. "Yeah, why? It's not that big of a deal. Come on!"  
Alina stared at the battlefield a moment longer, then hurried onto the bridge to catch up with Lyra.

* * *

**Hello again! Once more, thank you to Alphinia for reviewing. There will be another upload on Sunday, since I've been stockpiling chapters recently. **

**If Lyra had defeated Togetic, Matthias' third pokémon would have been a Ledian. Just thought I'd tell you all that in case you wanted to know. Also, I know that a lot of the moves or abilities or whatever aren't exactly what the pokémon learn in the games, but the Pokémon franchise has so many contradicting plot details and world holes that it allows for a lot of creative thinking on the FanFiction end. You can strictly follow the games, with straight move sets and stats, you can follow the anime with lots of creative freedom with moves and such as long as it is plausible, or you can merge the two and come up with a story all your own. That's what I like to do, so with the moves, as long as they make sense, I feel fine with writing them in.**

**So yeah. That's my spiel on attacks and stats and such. **

**Hope you enjoyed, and drop a review, it is greatly appreciated! Thanks!**

**-Cole Escapade**


	6. Chapter 6: Alina

As the faint breeze blew over the two girls on their way to Sprout Tower, a meeting was taking place in a cove of trees not too far from where the two girls were walking.

"You have failed."

A dark figure spoke from the shadows, his figure just visible from behind a tree.

The woman pursed her lips. "The girl's pokémon used Thief on me. There wasn't much I could do."

The man stepped out of the shadows, his light blue hair glinting in the dappled sunlight. "Regardless. Thief does not prevent you from taking the pokémon back. But," the man put a finger up to stop the woman's protest. "our scientists have found that the Whimsicott has no relation to the cult. This time it seems that your blunder is irrelevant. Regardless, don't let it happen again. You've had many mistakes in the past. Be glad you're still an executive."

Ariana bit her lip to keep herself from mentioning the fact that Archer was the one that had lost to that brat all those years ago. Backtalk was never a good thing with Team Rocket's leader.

"I have a new task for you. Acquire the Slowking."

Ariana looked up in surprise. "Which...which one?"

Archer sighed irritably, then flicked his hand dismissively. "The one we discussed. Now go. I have business with these little girls. I would like to see how good two newbie trainers are if they can best Ariana."

Ariana shot one last glare at her superior, then stalked off through the underbrush.

Archer thinned his lips. She was starting to resist the hypnotism, which was a problem. He would have to take measures to ensure her loyalty.

But that was a side matter. Right now, his focus was the two girls.

* * *

Alina absentmindedly stroked Bellossom's head as she walked down the dismal path. The sun from Bellossom's Sunny Day had finally worn off, and the clouds had rolled in, stealing some of the clarity that had inhibited Violet City earlier that day. The air smelled damp, and Alina guessed that it was going to rain soon. She sighed.

"How long is this bridge?" she whined, looking up at the sky.

Lyra pointed. "Look, we're almost there."

'Almost' was a relative term. There was still at least three hundred yards to go. Alina groaned. Why did the bridge have to be so freaking long?

Just then, she felt a raindrop smack her arm, scattering miniature droplets onto Bellossom.

Bellossom whimpered and shrunk down a little in Alina's arms. Alina looked down at her.

"What's the matter?" she asked. Another raindrop smacked onto Alina's bag.

Bellossom whimpered again and buried her head in Alina's arms. "Bell..."

"Are you afraid of rain?" Alina asked, confused at her pokémon's reaction.

Just then, the heavens opened and rain started to fall like a waterfall over a cliff-face.

"BELLOSSOM!" Bellossom screamed, starting to flail back and forth, a wild look in her eyes that Alina had never seen before.

Lyra jumped at the outburst. "Alina, follow me!" she called over her shoulder, starting to sprint toward the shelter of Sprout Tower.

Alina ran after her, desperately trying to keep Bellossom dry as she struggled in blind panic.

"Ow!" Alina yelped, feeling a sharp prick in her hand. She looked down and saw teeth marks. "Bellossom! Why did you bite me?!"

Bellossom just kept struggling and crying out.

"Alina, come on!" Lyra yelled from under the overhang of Sprout Tower. "Just get her out of the rain!"

Alina sprinted forward, her feet slapping the rotting planks of the bridge as she went all out the last few yards.

When she got under the wooden roof, Alina put Bellossom down and placed her hands on her knees, trying desperately to catch her breath.

"Bellossom!" Bellossom glared up at Alina. "Bell, Bell!"

Alina stared at Bellossom. "What is she saying?"

Lyra shrugged. "I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure she's mad at you."

Alina bent down further to where she was eye level with Bellossom. "Hey, I'm sorry that I kept you out in the rain, but can you try to be a little less sassy about it? I mean, it's just rain. It's not a big deal."

Bellossom raised her eyebrows at Alina, the turned her head away and humphed.

Alina stood up and raised her hands up in the air. "Of all the Bellossoms I could have gotten, I had to get one with a sassy nature. Come on Bellossom, it's just a little rain." She moved forward to hug her pokémon, but the little hula dancer just stepped away.

Lyra gave Alina a sympathetic look. "Bad luck. I would just put her in her pokéball and use Poliwag."

Alina sighed. She didn't like having Bellossom in her pokéball, but obviously she wasn't exactly in the mood for listening to Alina's commands in battle. A flash of light, and she was back in her pokéball.

They entered Sprout Tower silently. Inside, there was a large room made entirely of wooden planks. At the very far end of the room, a rickety stairwell led up and out of sight, and a huge wooden beam rocked back and forth slowly in the middle of the room, creaking ominously.

"Wow. It looks so deserted. Where are all the bellsprout that are supposed to be in here?" Alina asked, releasing Poliwag and running a hand over the chipping purple paint that covered the walls.

Lyra bent down and outlined a circle on the ground. "You see this?" she asked.

Alina looked down at the circle Lyra had drawn. She could faintly see a pink ring along the edge of where Lyra had traced. Inside the circle was pitch black. "Ah," she muttered. "So it's like pit traps, but with encounters of wild bellsprout.

And sure enough, as Alina moved closer, the circle popped up and turned out to be a bellsprout.

"Bell!" it cried, starting a stare-down with Poliwag.

Alina pulled out a Max Repel from her bag and sprayed the Bellsprout with it. "Go away!"

The bellsprout screeched and then shrunk back down into its pit trap.

"There are tons of these all around the place. If you want to train, I suggest that you battle them all," Lyra pointed out, releasing Aipom. "Aipom needs to toughen up a bit, so I'm going to be training her and Cyndaquil. Meet up with me on the top floor when you're done and we can take down the sages together. Sound good?"

Alina nodded. "Okay. It might take a while for me though. My pokémon aren't very strong."

Lyra waved a hand dismissively. "That doesn't matter. You'll toughen up. Meet you at the top!" she yelled over her shoulder, and plunged in to the pit traps.

Alina sighed. Battling wasn't her forte, but she decided that she'd better get used to it. That was what breeders did.

* * *

When Alina finally reached the top, her pokémon were almost fainted on their feet. Lyra was already there, leaning against the central post and playing with Aipom.

"Hey Alina! Took you long enough!" Lyra called out, spotting her partner coming towards her.

Alina was about to whip back a retort, but she saw the playful expression on Lyra's face and she immediately calmed down.

"Do you have two extra Super Potions? Bellossom and Poliwhirl are pooped." Alina collapsed onto the ground, utterly exhausted. "This tower has too many bellsprouts."

Lyra stared at Alina. "Did Poliwag evolve?"

Alina raised her eyebrows. "What?"

Lyra leaned forward. "You said Poliwhirl. Did Poliwag evolve?"

Alina's face broke into a smile. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that! Here, let me show you!" She rolled Poliwhirl's pokéball across the wooden floor and he appeared in a flash of white light.

"Poliwhirl, poli, poli!" he called in a much deeper voice than before.

Lyra smiled. "He looks amazing! That's awesome, Alina! Here's two Super Potions. And Bellossom seems to have gotten over her problem with you. Look at you, already on your way to becoming a pokémon breeder!"

Alina glowed at the praise. "Thanks! So, you already took care of the Sages?"

Lyra nodded. "Ordinarily, they would battle you as well, but I talked them out of it." She flashed her friend a smile, then looked over to where the Elder was floating on a sort of pedestal. His eyes were closed, and he was meditating with a peaceful expression.

As soon as they got close to him, the man's eyes darted open. "Greetings young travelers. I am the Elder of Sprout Tower. If you defeat me, I will give you the first hidden machine, otherwise known as Cut. If you defeat me without having any of your pokémon faint, I will also give you each a Miracle Seed, which powers up grass type moves. Are you both ready to face me? It will be a double battle, with each of you contributing one pokémon."

Alina looked at Lyra and they both nodded at the same time.

"Then let the battle begin! Bellsprout, Weepinbell, go!" The sage threw two pokéballs in the air.

"Litwick, let's show them how we roll!" Lyra yelled, directing the bouncing pokémon onto the field.

Alina frowned. If she sent in Poliwhirl, then all of the Head Sage's attacks would be super-effective, but if she called Bellossom onto the field, all of her attacks would be not very effective. Sure, she could set up with auxiliary moves, but Alina was itching to use her new Poliwhirl in battle.

"Poliwhirl, go!" Alina cried out. She knew that if Poliwhirl went down, they would both lose a Miracle Seed, which could benefit both of them, so she was determined to win.

Lyra jumped right into action. "Litwick, Flame Burst on Weepinbell!"

Alina smiled to herself. Flame Burst was a move that caused residual damage on the second pokémon in play, and since it was super-effective, Bellsprout would take even more damage.

"Poliwhirl, use Doubleslap on Bellsprout!" Alina ordered, hoping to score the hit while the sage was dealing with Lyra.

The Doubleslap connected, but immediately Bellsprout wrapped it's vine around him and started squeezing.

"Poliii!" Poliwhirl screamed.

Alina bit her lip. _Okay girl, time to show the world that you _can _win,_ she thought. Thinking fast, she analyzed the situation. "Poliwhirl, Hypnosis on Bellsprout, then use Body Slam and aim to paralyze!"

As soon as the purple waves of psychic energy rolled over Bellsprout, it collapsed to the ground, relinquishing it's grasp on Poliwhirl.

The tadpole leaped up and slammed down on the sleeping bellsprout as hard as he could.

Bellsprout's eyes flew open, and it froze in shock, eyes fixed in one place.

Alina cheered. "Yes! Paralyzed! Now Poliwhirl, finish it with a Wake-Up Slap!"

Bellsprout was completely defenseless, and it disappeared in a flash of light as soon as Poliwhirl started the attack.

"Yes!" Lyra yelled, punching the air in triumph.

Alina looked over quickly and saw that Lyra too had knocked out Weepinbell.

Alina stared in shock. Had they won? After both of them losing battles recently, Alina thought that it would take them a couple of tries to beat the Elder. But it had taken her one try, and that was with a type disadvantage!

"I'm NOT a failure!" she cheered, jumping into the air and fist pumping.

Lyra laughed and hugged her friend. "You're getting the hang of battling! You'll be breeding amazing pokémon in no time!" she encouraged.

The Elder stepped forward, chuckling at the girls' excitement. "Well done, both of you. As promised, I reward you each with a Miracle Seed and the Hidden Machine Cut." He pulled four items out of his pocket and handed them to Lyra and Alina. "You deserve them. I haven't seen a sweep like that in ages."

"Correction. I believe _I _beat you just as badly," a voice called from the shadows.

Alina yelped. The voice had come from right behind her. She turned and saw a boy about their age with long red hair that swept down past his shoulders. He had a black zip-up jacket with crème sweatpants. A sneasel perched on his shoulders, looking down on them all with a smug gaze.

The Elder's smile faltered. "Oh. Hello, Silver."

Alina looked at the Elder. He seemed…wary, almost. As if he had met Silver before, and he didn't like him.

The Elder took a step back onto his pedestal. "What business do you have here? You've already defeated me and received HM01. There is nothing else up in this tower."

The boy called Silver sneered at the man. "Maybe to your ancient eyes. You really can't see what this place truly is, can you?"

Lyra stepped forward. "Okay, wait a minute. There's no reason to get hostile here."

Silver turned to Lyra, looking her up and down slowly. His gaze rested on her chest.

Lyra blushed as he snorted, then turned his gaze up to her.

"And who might you be?" he asked, grinning to himself.

Lyra's expression hardened and she glared at Silver. "Lyra. I came here to challenge the Elder with my friend Alina, and we won. Who exactly are you?"

"Someone who is trying to prevent a major catastrophe, and doesn't need people in his way." The boy glanced up at the Elder. "I would like to speak to you…in private, if that can be managed."

The Elder sighed wearily and nodded. "Lyra, Alina, you were both very good battlers, but I'm afraid that you don't have anything left for you here in this old tower. The Violet City Gym is a great place to toughen up though, if that is what you were looking for."

Alina nodded politely. "Thank you for the HM and the Miracle Seed. Silver, I hope you stop whatever catastrophe you're planning on stopping."

She turned and saw Lyra narrowing her eyes at Silver. "What's the matter?" she asked her friend.

Lyra bit her lip. "I've seen him before," she muttered.

Alina goggled at her. "What?!"

Lyra shook herself out of her trance. "I've seen him before. In the woods outside of New Bark Town. I could only make out a shadow, but I know that it was him. He had been watching me creepily."

Alina sighed. "Well, that doesn't surprise me. He seems really weird and creepy, and to be honest, he kind of scares me. Let's just go."

"But what about that catastrophe he was talking about? Shouldn't we help him?" Lyra asked, genuine concern on her face.

Alina shook her head. "He's probably making it up, and even if he isn't, he said himself that he didn't want us to get in the way. If there is a real threat, Falkner will take care of it. That's what the Pokémon League is for, right? Let's just go. I'm getting hungry, and I saw a restaurant on our way here that sells Watmel Berry ice cream, and the tourist guide says they make the best roast pidgey anywhere in Johto…"

Lyra tuned out Alina's chatter and gave Silver one last look from across the room. He was conversing in hushed tones with the Elder, a deep look of urgency on both of their faces.

She felt a wave of foreboding sweep over her. Something was not right.

Lyra just hoped that it was nothing serious.

* * *

**Hallo! **

**Thank you for reading, as always, and thank you to Alphinia for reviewing...as always. :D**

**Sorry for the shorter chapter; I felt like it was a more natural ending, and I really don't like forcing things, so I hope you'll forgive the shorter update.**

**I also want to publicly apologize for those notes at the end of last chapter. It is fixed now, and I am so embarrassed...they were my notes for the author's note last chapter, and I forgot to delete them. But hey, at least you know I plan everything out. XD**

**While we are on apologies, sorry for the gap between chapters. Just an insight into my life the past month, I had studying for final exams, and then I had to _take _the final exams, and then I had to clean the house spotless for my brother's graduation party, and then I finally got done with everything, and I had to write a chapter for a different story (more info on that below!) and then I finally got to finishing and editing this chapter that was partially written. So that's what happened.**

**I am trying to gain a few readers for this, but I'm not great at it so it might take a little while. If the readers would like to help with that, it would be greatly appreciated, but not at all required whatsoever.**

**I know that in HGSS you get Flash from the Elder instead of HM01, but I didn't like that and I honestly don't think you guys will care, so I decided to extend my right of creative freedom. :D**

**I know I switched to Lyra's point of view at the very end, but I felt like that was a better ending than Alina's blabbering, so I hope you'll forgive me. :)**

**Part of the reason for the delayed posting of this was that I was busy writing chapter one of a fic that I am writing with my friend Malon Garynite. It will be called Nocturna, and released under our joint account of RareGarynite. We have done immense planning for this, and the story has become my precious baby that no one will ever take away from me. It'd be great if you all could take a looksies over at that as soon as it's posted. All you have to do is follow RareGarynite, and you'll get an alert when we post it. There's also a wiki that we set up, as well as maps, pictures, immense world and character building, and everything else that we have ourselves but not online. So yeah. Support on that would be awesome too. :D**

**That's the last thing! Sorry for the really long author's note. Actually, not I'm not because I love writing them, and I love reading other author's super long author notes too. :) But I am sorry if you don't like them. **

**I'm really going now. Please review, and favorite/follow! :-)**

**-Cole Escapade**


	7. Chapter 7: Lyra

**There will be graphic elements in the next two chapters. If you have a queasy stomach, or do not want to read these chapters for some other reason, a clean summary of the chapters will preface Chapter Nine. Thank you, and enjoy!**

* * *

"Wait."

Lyra held her arm out in front of Alina, stopping her before they stepped onto the ground of the first floor.

"Lyra, come on. I'm hungry, and I just want to sleep. We don't need to go back up there and try to fix whatever Silver was talking about. We're newbies; what can we offer that could possibly help prevent a catastrophe?! Let's ju–"

Lyra cut her off. "No, that's not what I meant. There's…there's someone here."

She stepped down from the ladder, and peered into the darkness. Between the creeping vines of the bellsprout and the large oak beams, Lyra could faintly make out the outline of a person near the entrance. They seemed to just be sitting on one of the bellsprout statues, waiting for the two girls.

"H…Hello?" Lyra called out, her voice echoing through the spacious room.

"Who are you talking…too…." Alina's voice trailed off as the person stood up and strode toward them. Whoever it was stopped just outside the circle of light from a lantern near the ladder and remained in the shadows.

"I've heard about you two."

Alina backed up against the wall, pulling Lyra back with her. Lyra could see that her eyes were wide with fear.

"Relax," she whispered, "we don't know if he's friend or foe."

"You bested one of my executives. I would say I'm impressed, but Ariana has a record of being…subpar."

The man stepped into the lantern's circle of light. He wore a crisp white suit and a head of cyan hair. A red R was stitched on his breast pocket.

Team Rocket's emblem. She inched her hand toward her bag, her breath quickening. Unless the man had a habit of wearing Team Rocket's sign around for fun, he meant trouble.

The man glanced at Lyra's bag. "Oh no, please do get out your pokémon. I want to see if you can beat me in battle. I'll even make it a two on one. You can see if you have the talent to defeat Team Rocket's Leader."

Lyra's heart sank. This was the head of the most evil crime syndicate in the world. Sure, other regions had their own evil organizations, but they all had justified reasons for their wrongdoings, and they all though that they were really the good guys, and that they were working for a better world. Team Rocket…they just stole pokémon for fun. They knew they were evil and they loved it. To them, stealing, cheating and scheming were a sport. How on earth did he expect two newbies to defeat him? And more importantly, why was he here?

The man smirked at Lyra and Alina's obvious discomfort. "What, are you not up to the game? Here, I'll make you a deal. If you battle me and lose, I will give you a prize. If you battle me and win, I will give you the precise location of my organization's headquarters, which you can then relay to the Pokémon League. Hmm? Does that sound fair? You win either way."

Alina stepped forward. "What kind of prize?"

Lyra stared at her. "Are you seriously thinking about doing this? He is the head of Team _Rocket_. Backstabbing and lying is part of his _job description!" _

Alina waved her off. "Tell us what the prize is first."

The man smiled. "It's a surprise."

Lyra pulled Alina back. "We don't want your prize. Or a battle. Thank you, but we'll be on our way."

She started forward, but the man blocked her. "Now, now," he whispered, smiling down at Lyra. "You wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you?"

Lyra spat in his face. "You are trash to me," she snapped.

The man pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the spit out of his face calmly. In a way, that scared Lyra even more. If he was angry and emotional, she could try to manipulate that. But he was calm and collected, which meant that he knew he was going to get what he wanted. He had something else up his sleeve.

"Lyra, why don't we just battle him? It can't hurt," Alina asked quietly.

Lyra shook her head. "Because we'll lose, and then we'll be absolutely defenseless and he'll be able to kidnap us, or kill us, or…or whatever else he wants to do to us."

"Now really, how evil do you think I am?" the man asked in a falsely innocent voice.

Lyra glared at him. "I'm not justifying that with an answer. Alina, this is probably the most evil man in the world right now. We are _not _battling him."

A sneer morphed the calm features of the man's face. "I am not asking for a battle. I am demanding one."

Lyra took a deep breath, her mind racing. Then a thought came to her.

"SILVER! HELP! TEAM ROCKET!" Lyra screamed at the top of her voice, hoping that it would travel to the top of the tower. She doubted it would, but it gave her the opportunity she needed.

The man instantly lunged at her, one arm outstretched, the other reaching for a pokéball.

Lyra jumped aside and sprinted toward the door, but before she could even get close to the exit, a vine wrapped around her feet, anchoring them to the ground. She twisted and saw a Victreebel next to the man, it's vines creeping across the floor. He walked toward Lyra slowly, his face twisting into a perverted form of its original.

"You can't get away girl. I am Archer, the Leader of TEAM ROCKET! You cannot escape m–" he was cut short by Alina promptly connecting the end her bag with his face.

He stumbled back, yelling as he cupped his hands around a bleeding nose.

"GET AWAY FROM MY FRIEND!" Alina screamed, and swung at him again.

"You f–" he let loose a stream of curse words. "Victreebel, Grass Knot!"

Lyra felt the vines around her feet immediately retract. She stepped forward to help Alina, but before she could, blades of grass leaped up her shins and pulled her down to the ground.

"_Ooph!" _she grunted as she hit the ground.

Alina's body tumbled down ahead of her, and the grass cocooned tightly around their bodies.

Archer strode toward them angrily and kicked Alina's face.

She yelled, and blood spurted down her face. So now they both had bloody noses. Great.

Lyra lifted her head up to shout at him, but instead saw Silver slipping quietly down the ladder at the far end of the room, taking in the scene. Lyra almost sighed in relief, but instead shouted at Archer.

"You won't get away with this!"

Archer crouched down next to Lyra. "You had it right honey." He sneered the word honey, as if it was an insult. "I was going to backstab you. I was going to kill your pokémon, and then finish you two off as well. You're quite perceptive." He grabbed her face and jerked it up. "You would make a nice trophy. I might keep your head when I kill you. It would serve as a nice reminder of this experience. I think I would like th–"

He froze. Lyra pulled her face away from his hands in disgust, and wondered why he had stopped. She almost cried in relief when she saw Silver standing above Archer with a large brick in his hands. Archer crumpled to the ground, blood pooling around his head. Silver grabbed a pokéball off his belt and returned Victreebel to the capsule before it could attack any of them.

"Are you okay?" he asked, cutting them free from the grass with a pocket knife.

Lyra nodded, flexing her arms and wrists. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

Silver shrugged as he cut Alina free. "It's whatever. You did a good job with stalling him. He would have killed you, you know."

Lyra nodded, the adrenaline from the situation wearing away. Her body ached, and nose hurt like crazy. She wiped some of the blood away with her hand, but it was a steady stream.

Alina stood up and brushed herself off. "That man is an evil, perverted little b–" she cursed.

Silver snorted. "You're telling me. Why did her come here? What did he want?"

Lyra shook her head. "He said that we bested one of his executive's, Ariana. And he wanted a battle. But we've never even seen Ariana, much less beaten…her…." her mind flashed back to the old woman in Cherrygrove who had shoved past them. "We found an ID near a trashcan after that woman who stole Whimsicott disappeared. We assumed it was old, but it must have been hers. She must have dropped it."

Alina's eyes grew wide. "That makes sense! I don't know how we didn't think of that before. Why would an old Team Rocket ID Card just be lying around the street?"

Just then, shouts started to echo from outside the tower. Silver's eyes flashed with dread. "No….NO! They said it would be a week or more….how do they have the slowking already?! NO! Lyra, Alina, you HAVE to get out, NOW! GO! RUN!"

Silver shoved them toward the door, sprinting after them.

"What's wrong?!" Lyra asked, adrenaline rushing into her body once more.

Silver shook his head. "We need to get out now. There's going to be a–"

_BOOM._

* * *

Brown. And red, and green, and black, and yellow, and blue, and gray. The colors swirled together in a dance, like the colorful ballets that Lyra's mom used to take her to. It was mostly grey and brown, but there was a lot of red and green too. It was pretty. But it smelled horrible. Like burnt flesh. But it smelled soothing too. Like a fresh spring. It was all silent too. A silent ballet, twirling, spinning, dancing….

There were tiny pricks of cold too. They disrupted the dance, and Lyra didn't like it. They stung. They were cold…and…wet? Yes, wet. The cold wet stinging jolted through the dance. Now gray was all that remained. Just…gray. Completely gray.

But it still hurt. Not the wet, cold stuff, but something else. Now that the dance was done, Lyra noticed something else. It was warm, and it hurt too, but it was more of a throbbing sensation of pain. Now the red was coming back. It overwhelmed the gray like a flood, and then suddenly it was all black.

* * *

Proton smirked as he saw the beams of wood falling from the sky. He smiled even more as the rain burst from the sky like a great flood, overwhelming everything. It was almost like swimming. A small laugh escaped his mouth. The slowpoke technique had worked. Sprout Tower was destroyed, and the eternal Storm had started.

Proton turned and walked away through the trees, disappearing into the shadows. His work here was done. Archer would be extracted from the wreckage and revived, no doubt. But he had other things to worry about. He needed the bellossom, and he needed it now.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so there are a few things with this chapter. **

**The first one is that I'm really sorry for not updating in *checks calendar* six months...hehe...but I was really busy. I know, the same old excuse, but you all know what it's like. I'll try to get as much writing done over winter break that I can, but I don't know. We'll see how it goes.**

**Two: I know this chapter didn't have much graphic elements. That'll come in the next chapter. So stayed tuned. :)**

**The third thing is that I feel bad for giving you guys such a short chapter, but this was the only chapter break in a LONG time, which does mean that next chapter will be very long, and it will include the gym battle. Yayyyy! *throws confetti***

**The action is picking up, but it's not even close to the end (of course). I'm thinking probably around twenty chapters, but I don't want to limit myself, so we'll see how it goes. Thanks for reading, and PLEASE leave a detailed review. They make my day, and I use each bit of information to improve my writing. It helps exponentially. Thanks again!**

**-Cole Escapade**


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